Thursday, August 30, 2012

Violence at Disneyland!

This photo is somewhat surprising if not viewed in its historical context. Hard to believe that there was once a Gun Shop in Frontierland. Even though I doubt that they sold real weapons, I'm not even sure that you could buy fake guns or pistols at Disneyland anymore.

Today, this shop has been incorporated into The Golden Horseshoe, as seen in this photo I took on my most recent trip to Disneyland.

The interesting little sculpture above the door disappeared at some point.

Either removed, destroyed, or plastered over.

Guns weren't the only weapon used in Frontierland; Zorro brandished his sword on top of the Mark Twain for guests to marvel at below:

It seems like the area by the Gun Shop was not a safe place for guests; here's Black Bart in the middle of a gunfight:

Wally Boag is on top of the Horseshoe, having just been "shot":

Even the peaceful Rivers of America had violence right under your nose, as you can see by the The Burning Cabin:

I just love zooming into the faux dead guy on the bench with an arrow through his chest. Again - hard to believe this was here for YEARS at Disneyland!

Obviously, cast members had fun with this guy too, as he is rarely seen in the same position:

The last time I saw any kind of politically incorrect violence at Disneyland was over in Adventureland back in June 2008 when this evil villainous was getting pummeled by an ungentlemanly Indiana Jones.

I think the poor Hippos on the Jungle Cruise are the last examples of violence at Disneyland...other than the fits of anger by guests who have to wait too long in line for something.

Now Knott's sells those obnoxious cork guns. Those things have ruined the audio in so much of my video footage of the park! Dave, I love how you have shown multiple photographs of the burning cabin to illustrate the changing of positions of that poor fellow! I can't tell from the photos, but I am sure that he had a few wardrobe changes over the years as well!

Dave, there is a bit of sanctioned violence still in the Jedi Academy show in Tomorrowland.

Kids are trained by CM "Jedi" to wave their light sabers while wearing robes, then each youngster gets to have a fight with either Darth Vader or Darth Maul, who are eventually vanquished and disappear under the Tomorrowland Stage in a cloud of fog.

It's really very cool, obviously fun for the kids, and there is some laser fire and gymnastics, although not to the level of the former Frontierland events.

We saw this in 2011, so fairly recent. Not sure if it is still going on.

Liberty Ranch promises to be the answer to your PC dilemma. Offering a gentle reminder of what the land of the free and the home of the brave traditionally has meant. There you will find a sampling of the hard facts of history - Walt's words - presented in an unvarnished, but friendly, manner. Stay tuned!

You know, I suspect that the guy who played Black Bart might still be around. I bet he was about 20 years old when he started at the park. I've got some slides form the 1950s--and he looks young (way younger than Wally B). It would be interesting to find him, assuming he's still around.

This publication was the predecessor of Disneyland Holiday and Vacationland from a timing perspective though it was distributed inside the park rather than at the local motels.

It was quite common for the newspaper to include articles profiling specialty shops like Mineral Hall and the Bonekraft Shop so I think one of them likely included the Gun Shop with some sense of what they carried. Keep in mind that several shops in Disneyland at the time were run by outside vendors.

About Me

Photographer/artist for hire and pop culture junkie. My art has been on “Larry King Live!”, book published, and gallery exhibited. I take a lot of photographs and spend way too much time at Disneyland.